The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-04-19
MOOSE HUNTING.
ONE MAN DOES THE WORK WHILE
THE OTHER SEES THE FUN.


How the Moose, Feeding by Might.
Become. the Prey Of the Hunter.
Amer the Shot
The moose seeks his food where the vel
low water lay is found. IL is not, how
ever, the leaves nor the blossoms which
are sought, but the roots. These extend
in a perfect network through the mud in
which they grow, attaining thickness
exceeding a mans arm and an indefinite
length. There is no disputing about
tastes, and consequently we will not
criticise the moose for being so fond of
this vegetable. But to the human palate
it is dry, insipid and puckery. To obtain
this he will wade ont into the water and
souse his head beneath the surface until
even his ears are submerged Then hav-
ing wrcnched u chunk Of greater or less
length from its bed, he withdraws his
head, and, dripping water from each Of
the numerous angles which characterize
his ugly physiognOmy, he stands the
picture Of pure enirnal enjoyment, chew
ing away at ono end Of the root, while the
other sticks out Of his mouth like . cigar.
Torrance is the constant burden Of the
hunters prayers.
Should the night promise to be still,
warm and dark, the hunter scours the re-
fiector Of his jack until IL shines like sill
yer, and breathes upon and wipes its glass
lens until it is speckless. The lamp within
should emit a powerful light, but the cas-
ing must be so constructed that not the
faintest glimmer can escape until its aid
Il required and q hinged cover, which
caps the glass, Ii dropped
In this, as in most other forms Of moose
hunting, two form the eompany-one to
do the work while the other takes In the
fun-and, as in many other things in this
life, ultimate success depends more on
the skill Of the former than on that of the
latter.
After the jack has been lit some twenty
minutes, so that the maximum Of light
possible without smoke IL assured, the
pair betake themselves to the canoe.
Blankets are spread on the bottom Of the
boat To deaden any motion Of the feet.
He who Is to shoot seats himself in the
bow, while his companion first wrsps him
In blankets and then arranges the Jack
This il best suspended from frame be
hind the rifleman; but it should he SO
connected with his head that the beam Of
light will follow its every motion when
the jack is open With the glass uncOv-
cred, the rifle is thrown to the shoulder,
and the connection Of the jack with the
headgear is so adjusted that when the
UiOSb Coiscuichs 0xhAA y soAOh - I'll OC
directly in the center Of Illumination
Thus both sights Of the rifle are perfectly
visible, and the difficulty II NO longer to
shoot with accuracy, bus only 70 obtain q
sufficiently distinct view Of the object to
be hit.
When this is complete the other takes
his place in the stern, folds his blanket
over his lap, and, grasping his paddle,
pushes from the bank. The jack IL then
Il. .yntx Iork v~rl
follow.
AS noiseless as the shadow OF o cloud,
the canoe steals along, and hour after
hour its occupants, relying solely ON the
sense of hearing, strain every nerve to de-
tect an indication Of the near neighbor-
hood of the game they seek
At last comes slow and measured sound
-slosh, slosh, slosh; and then all Is still
again. The heart of the hunter shrivels
flies into his throat, where ii keeps up
such humping that it seems impossible
that the noise should escape the quick ear
of the game. With the utmost caution
the rifle is brought to the full cock, and
the left hand freed, ready to open the jack
at the preconcerted signal, which it 10 the
duty Of the paddler to give
Every ache and pain Is at once forgotten
in the all absorbing question, VIII he re-
main in the water OF take to the bank,
and, burying himself In the woods, escape,
For he is still far beyond the range Of the
jack, and not till it will surely show him
up must it be opened II the motion of
the canoe was slow before, it seems doubly
so now, and minute after minute, each ap-
parently an hour, drags on, and still the
noise, repeated at intervals, seems no
nearer.
At length after a seemingly endless de-
lay, comes the signal to open the jack,
and the light streams forth. There he
stands, mid leg deep in the water, dim,
shadOwy and mOnstrous, his eyes glaring
green in the light, with the malevolence Of
IA demon. He will stay but for q second,
and only to decide which way to retreat.
Raise the rifle slowly, but lose no time.
Draw as careful q bead as though shoot
ing at u two-inch bulls eye, and give it to
him right Throughout behind-the mid
die of the fore shoulder. For q second the
smoke obse ures the result. Is he down or
upS In either case, dose him again IL you
can; but IL you cannot, close the jack mt
once. Now is no time to ask your COM
panion: Do you think hit him, II you
were silent before, be doubly SO now, and
listen. Does he burst into and tear
through the woods rs though he had gone
into the kindlirg wood business and was
laying in u winters stock, and do you
hear him crashing and smashing until the
sound dies away On the distant mountain
slider 1t was clear miss, OF at best .
Craze. But no; the uproar dies away and
silence you can almost feel ensues-
What sound is that from the neighbOring
woods, There he is! You can hear him
breathe and wheeze at every inspiration
IL IL well. The shot w0s u little too far
back, but it WAS pretty well plsced all the
same. Now withdraw with ths stillness
of death itself, and not until ut least
half n mile intervenes whisper to your
companion: We'll, I guess that's our
meat; what do you think,''
For il from any act of yours he discov-
ers what has hurt him, particularly IL you
attempt to land, he will either attack at
once, in which case you will be in desperate
peril, or he will travel till he drops, perhaps
miles anil miles away, and the foxes and
other marauders of the forest alone will
profit by his death Whereas II you leave
him to attribute his distress to a stroke Of
lightning Il fit of indigestion, or to any
cause other than the agency of man, you
will find him in the morning, il not lying
dead, where you last heard him, at all
events 10 enfeebled that you may still
hunt him with the certainty of success
Henry p, Wells in Harpers Magazine.